George Diaz: UCF GOAT? Sorry Shaquem Griffin, give it up for Daunte Culpepper

He is the Man of the Hour on a 24-7 news cycle that can't get enough of a kid who has persevered and did glorious things at Central Florida. Get back to me if anyone still thinks that playing linebacker at an elite level in college is a "handicap" if you only have one hand.

Griffin now likely moves on to the NFL, another test of fortitude, as a young man rising up the draft charts.

But will he leave UCF as the greatest player in Knights history, as my colleague Mike Bianchi suggests?

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Most inspirational? Very much so. Most determined? Can't think of another. But let's put a pause button on "greatest."

Step on up, Daunte Culpepper.

Daunte put UCF on the map during a time some people were still calling the school "Florida Technological University," much less figure out where it was located.

Daunte rewrote almost all of the school's quarterback records, about 30 in all, and was loyal to the end, coming back for his senior season in 1998.

Daunte had his own inspirational story as a baby adopted when he was a day old by the late Emma Lewis Culpepper, who raised more than 15 children. The backstory twist is that Emma Lewis worked in the correctional facility where Culpepper's mother was incarcerated.

It was quite the ride at UCF. The school's sports information department built a website in 1998, promoting its signature star as an All-American prospect.

His statistical markers included setting an NCAA record for single-season completion percentage (.736), breaking a 15-year-old mark set by Steve Young.

Culpepper also eclipsed the 10,000 passing yards/1,000 rushing yards benchmark in a career, a feat only accomplished by two others in NCAA history when he set the record.

But my premise isn't based on statistics, no matter how impressive.

Culpepper was UCF's Christopher Columbus. Because of him, UCF found the Promised Land and national acclaim, setting up Griffin, Blake Bortles, McKenzie Milton and all the others.

Close your eyes and imagine Chief Osceola riding Renegade and planting a spear at midfield in Tallahassee. Now envision Culpepper riding on Pegasus, the mythological winged horse, and throwing a spear down on midfield, heralding UCF's arrival on the college football map.

UCF got him with a mulligan of sorts. Florida and FSU backed off their recruiting pitches because of Culpepper's 1.5 GPA in high school. UCF, especially then-offensive coordinator Paul Lounsberry, never backed down and even came up with a plan to get Culpepper's grades back up.

Culpepper paid it forward by making college football fans believe in UCF.

Culpepper went to Nebraska in September 1997 and made 75,327 fans queasy when he and the Knights took a 17-14 halftime lead against the Cornhuskers and a quarterback named Scott Frost. Although Nebraska rallied for 38-24 victory, those fans gave Culpepper and the Knights a standing ovation.

That same year, the Knights sent Ole Miss into overtime in their season opener before losing, 24-23. Culpepper then threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-31 loss to South Carolina.

Those losses were monumental gains for a program that proved it could play with anybody in the country.

"When I came out of high school, I had people tell me this program would never be anything," Culpepper said during his senior season at UCF. "They told me I'd never get to the next level going to this program. People would tell me, 'Are you crazy?' "

Crazy enough that he dared to dream. Crazy enough that he became the No. 11 pick in the 1999 draft. Crazy enough that he would play 11 seasons in the NFL, and throw for 149 touchdowns.

Let's hope Shaquem Griffin has a long and prosperous NFL career, and becomes one of the greatest stories ever told in the NFL.

But Daunte Culpepper has a great story to share, too. And it's unmatched in UCF history.